Device for synchronizing prime motors.



No. 825,530. PATBNTED JULY 10, 1906.

F. ELLIDUTT.

DEVICE FOR SYNOHROfiIZIfiG PRIME MOTORS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29. 1902. B$IBWBD D30. 23, 1905.

2 BHBETB-SHEET 1 meme/ A No. 825,530. PATENTBD JULY 10, 1906.

F. ELLIGOTT. DEVICE FOR SYNGHRONIZING PRIME MOTORS.

APPLIUATIOK FILED HOV. 29, 1992. EBRBWED D50. 23, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DEVICE FOR SYNGHRONlZlNG PRlME MOTORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 16, 1906.

Application filed November 29, 1902. Renewed December 23 N05. Serial Nb.293,113.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANGIs ELIJCOTT, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Baltimore, State of Maryland, have inventedcertain new and useful Im Provements in Devices for Synchronizing rirneMotors, of" which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a device for syn chronizing the movement of thegates of two woterwheels. It may he applied to other forms of primemotor; but it has been applied by me to water-wheels.

It has been found in practice that when two or more wheels are runningtogether supplying power jointly for the generation of electricity thefluctuations of load will be taken up by one of the wheels more readilythan by the other, due to the difference of the frictional resistance ofthe two wheels, with the result that one wheel will be doing, say,seventy-five per cent. of the work and the other wheel twenty-five percent. of the work. This unequal distribution of the load upon wheelswhich are running together is a verv undesirahle condition and one whichleads to an unequal wear of the apparatus and an undesirable conditionin the generation of power.

' In the intents which were granted to Inc on pendent driving-shaftsDecem or 25, 1900, Nos. 664,393, 664,392, and 664,394 I have describedstorm of automatic governor which I have used successfully for thegovernment of a single water wheel. This governor is capable to a greatextent of governing two or more independent wheels running on the sameload; but it is not capable of insuring constant synchronisin in themovement of the gates of the two wheels without some additional means toaccomplish this result. I have devised an additional means, which isdescribed in this applicetieni Figure 1 represents a pair of governingmechanisms similar to that shown in Patents Nos. 664,392 and 664,394,above referred to, and which are each capable of governing its ownwheel. They are shown in connection with two independent flumes and twoinde- The governors in the case shown are independent of thedrivingishafts, but are belted to them, so as to fol ow their motion.Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Referring to Fig. 1, 1 and 2 are'twoidentical finrnes in which are located two water- Wheels, 3 and 4 aretwo runner-shafts protruding from the center of the Homes and connectedwithin the [fumes to the runners of the wheels. 5 and 6 are two,g'ovcrnor cylinders suitably mounted upon a suitable base. {Not shownin this figure.) and S are brackets mounted on the tops of the cylinders5 ond'fi and in the upper ends of which are journalod the shafts l) and3G,, by which the gates of the wheels are moved. l1 and 12 ere thepiston-rods, which protrude from the tops ofthe cylinders 5 and 6 and towhich are connected rocks 13 end 14, which mesh with gear-wheels 15 and16 (shown in Fig. 2) of the shafts i) and 10 and by which these shaftsare turned. 37 and 18 are valvecylinders located upon the sides of thecylinders 5 and 6 and connected at each end with the fiunies 1 and 2 bymeans of the pipes 19 and 20. Through the pipes 19 and 20 waterpressureis supplied to the valve-cylinders 17 and 18 and the cylinders 5 and 6.21 and 22 are exhausts from the valve-cylinders 17 and 18, controlled byexhaust-valves 23 and 24. 25 and 26 are the valve-rods by which thevalves contained in the valve-cylinders I? and 18 are moved. 2? and 28are centrifugsl governors identical in construction to those shown anddescribed in l iettors Patent No. 664,392, dated December 25, 1900. 29and 30 are pulleys on the main driving-shafts of the wheels, and to themthe centrifugal gov ernors are belted by means of the bolts 31 and 32and the pulleys 33 and 34. 35 and 36 are beveled gears on the shafts 9and 10, respectively, and 37 and 38 are beveled gears meshing with thebeveled gears 35 and 36 and secured to the opposite ends of a. shaft 39.The shaft 39 is journaled in brackets 40 and 41 and is provided withcouplings 42 and 43, which are capable of being thrown into or out ofengagement so as to connect or disconnect the two governors. 44 is aratcheteird-pswl lever by means of which the shaft 39 may be turned andthe gates of the two wheels moved simultaneously while the rest of theapparatus is stationary, if desired.

The operation of the device is as follows: When the wheels are inoperation and a fluctuation of load occurs either increasing ordecreasing the speed, the runner-shafts will corresfondingl move thegovernors, and they wil move t e valves contained in the cylinders 17and 18 admitting pressure to the c linders 5 and 6, by which the pistonsin t 9 said 0 linders and the racks 13 and 14 will be move the shafts 9and 10 rotated, and the gates of the wheels opened or closed. If there 1were no rigid connection between the two mechanisms, the one which movedmore easily would move farthest until a sullicient amount of )ower wascommitted to the wheels to tallie up the additional load or a sufficientquantity was cut oil to correspond to the reduction of load, and thegates might he at quite different positions, although the speed of onerunner was maintained the same as the speed of the other runner, eachcontrolled byits own governor. In the mechanism shonn, however, in thiswase the connecting-shaft 39 compels a uniform motion of the shafts 9and 10, and as one or the other moves the other must move simultaneouslyand uniformly. It will thus be seen that where two wheels are runningtogether upon the same i load they can he made by this simple mechanicalconnection to equally divide the 1021161 between them and to run incomplete synchronism with one another, the gates of each wheel beingalways open to exactly tl"e same extent.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

In a water-wheel governor the combina, tion of a series of water-wheelseach provided with a. device. for admitting water to or cutting wateroff from the Wheels, means for actuating all of said devices uniformlyand simultaneously, and an automatic speed-governor connected to andcontrolling said devices so as to admit power to or cut power off fromall of said wheels simultaneously.

Signed by me at Washington, District of Columbia, this 25th day ofNovember, 1992.

FRANCIS ELLICOTT. \Vitn esses:

A. B. rimmers, WM. J. JACOBI.

